Holy Week Chronology

While not a doctrinal error, today's editorial lead-in about the chronology of Holy Week, to me, is one of the biggest missteps in this editor's format of the Bible. Departing from the consensus of the church and of scholars throughout the ages, the editor suddenly springs the idea that Maundy Thursday was actually Maundy Wednesday and Good Friday was actually Good Thursday. By comparing his reasoning against other commentaries (my usual big three-the People's Bible, Concordia Self-Study Bible, and the Kretzmann commentary), I find that several of the assumptions undergirding his conclusion are incorrect. I will address those here:

1. Assumption: Jesus predicted he would be in the tomb three days and three nights; Friday to Sunday doesn't add up. Answer: I once downloaded the following from the WELS Web site: "This objection does not carry much weight when one examines the evidence of Jewish usage. In the Talmud, Rabbi Eleazer ben Azariah who lived in the first century A.D. states, 'A day and night are an Onah [a unit of time] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.' There is considerable evidence that 'three days,' 'on the third day,' 'after three days,' and 'three days and three nights' all refer to the same time, namely, part of three calendar days (Esther 4:16 and 5:1)."
2. Assumption: Later references to meals are talking about the Passover. Answer: Like the editor explained, the Feast of Unleavened Bread starts with the Passover feast. However, he doesn't seem to understand that the week continues with a feast each evening, so passages like John 13:29 and 18:28 are talking about evening feasts that are part of the Passover week but following the actual Passover meal.
3. Assumption: The day of Preparation is the "day on which the paschal lamb is slain for the Passover meal." Answer: The day of Preparation was another name the Jews had for Friday, the day before the Sabbath. When the Bible says, "the day of Preparation of Passover Week" (John 19:14) it means "the Friday of Passover week."
4. Assumption:  The Holy Week account talks about a special Sabbath (John 19:31); this is a reference to the day after the Passover meal. Answer: The special Sabbath is actually the Sabbath (Saturday) that falls during Passover week/the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

If you keep this information in mind as you continue to read the Holy Week account in coming days, the traditional timeline will make sense for you.

Part of the editor's reasoning for redoing the timeline seems to be a misunderstanding of the week of celebration and some of the terms used. Another part of his motivation seems to be so that Jesus' death falls in just right the place for him to be the Passover Lamb. However, even though Jesus wasn't sacrificed on the exact evening of the Passover, I find it amazing how God arranged the events of that week. After an important and consequential Last Supper, Jesus still went on to be offered as our sacrifice during the week of Passover and in that way still became our Passover Lamb (see 1 Corinthians 5:7).